Sailing in Place
North Bay racer Pat Broderick writes, “Here are photos of the Broderick boys, Preston, Elljay and Tyler, ‘Sailing in Place’ (SIP). They enjoyed their day on the wild, windy, wavy driveway very much, although it appears the conditions dismasted their sturdy craft. They called Grandpa’s Towing Service on the VHF, and he showed up with a trailer to save them. They didn’t report any whale sightings, but the neighbor’s cat did come along and took a look. They plan on more SIP adventures in the coming months. Maybe they’ll set up a lawn sprinkler to provide some spray.”
About That Boat…
We asked Pat what kind of boat the kids were ‘sailing’. “It’s a Holder 14 (by Hobie Cat/Coleman),” he replied. “The design history is a little interesting. It first came out as the Vagabond 14, designed by Ron Holder, in 1976. In 1982, Hobie bought the design and it became a Holder 14. It was production until 1987 when an ‘improved’ version came out with a pivoting centerboard, with both the centerboard and rudder becoming fiberglass. There were other modifications to the rig, including roller furling. The basic hull remained the same through all the changes. In 1976, Coleman (the camper folks) acquired Coast Catamaran (Hobie Cat). My boat was built after that date, since it includes the Coleman name.”
The Schumacher Connection
“Ron Holder designed a bunch of small sailboats,” continues Pat. “Here’s a paragraph from a December 1984 Latitude 38 article that Shimon van Collie wrote about Carl Schumacher: ‘There was more to boats than just sailing, though. “He [Schumacher] was always tinkering,” recalls Newport Beach racer and sailmaker Dave Ullman, who taught at the Balboa YC junior program. Carl started sketching boats at a young age, and he used to build and race model sailboats with Ron Holder (who later designed the trailerable Holder 20). In fact, the drawing board Carl uses today was a Christmas present he received when he was 12. “I set it up in my room,” he recalls, “and just started sketching.”‘”
More ‘Sorta Sailing’
“There are other ways of ‘sorta’ Sailing in Place,” added Pat. “Here’s Tyler at this year’s Cub Scout Rain Gutter Regatta. Instead of rain gutters they now use blow-up ‘rain gutters’. Tyler put together his ‘Official Boy Scout’ trimaran and blew it down the ‘rain gutter’ — about 50 times that evening.”
Apparently, this Sailing in Place event took place before we were all ordered to Shelter in Place.